Restart
by Levannar
Summary: G1. An accident with an ancient Cybertronian device turns Megatron into a sparkling, leaving Starscream and Soundwave to sort out the mess left behind. Unfortunately, cooperation isn't their strongest point...
1. Chances

**Author's Note:** Hello everybody. Welcome to my newest fic and first attempt at writing Transformers. As always, reviews are welcome.

Thank you P.A.W.07 for beta-reading this story. Being a foreigner, I don't know what I'd do without wonderful people like you.

**Disclaimer:** The only thing I own is a Soundwave figure, who is standing proudly on my desk and staring at me with the same amount of interest the real Soundwave would. Which is zero.

Okay, I think I'll shut up now. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter One: Chances

It was one of those warm summer nights when no clouds are blocking the moon. The mountains are also cast in silver light while a soft breeze is playing with the grass. The only sound that you can hear is the ceaseless chirping of the crickets. Well … one had been able to hear their ceaseless insect song. Now there was silence; all of them had fled upon the arrival of the Decepticons. Still, it was a beautiful night, even though the giant aliens couldn't have cared less about it.

In the center of their interest was an excavation site in the middle of the valley. Enormous panels of metal had been dug up from the ground; beneath them, several wide flues were visible. It was the rear end of an ancient Cybertronian spacecraft.

Thanks to the work of the Constructicons, the entire thing was sticking out of the ground like a dark, strangely shaped cliff. They had also found an entrance to the hull, which was now being explored.

Soundwave dated the vessel to the Golden Age and Megatron agreed with him. He could see the signs everywhere: the rooms and corridors were large and had expensive, ornamental furniture in them. These characteristics had disappeared at the beginning of the war when functionality had replaced luxury. The spaceship was now a time capsule, carrying memories of a distant past when Cybertronians could live together in peace and their greatest worry was whether the next supply of energon cookies would be tasty enough.

The leader of the Decepticons strode through the corridors towards the storage area. He was wondering if they should take some objects back to the Nemesis – he could see them adorning his throne room. But valuable equipment came first: anything they could use as a weapon or energy source. A couple of minutes earlier Starscream had called saying he'd found something, which was why Megatron was heading towards his position.

He took it at a lazy pace though; he was fairly sure his incompetent SIC had only found a prehistoric refrigerator or something else along those lines. But alas, one should never underestimate Starscream.

Maybe it was a toaster.

He smirked and decided that his opinion about the Seeker was at its lowest point. The advantage of this would be that it could only go up from here. Theoretically.

With his usual, towering, presence, Megatron entered one of the storage rooms … if it could be called that. It was more like a fragging hall! There, unsurprisingly, he found Starscream standing next to a large device, about which Megatron couldn't see anything special. The Seeker noted his arrival with a scowl.

"As friendly as ever, I see," Megatron said. "What do you have?"

Starscream motioned at the machine. "This. What else? Can you see anything _else_ around here that might spark some interest?"

"Careful, Starscream. I am not in the mood to deal with you now."

"Too bad, you're stuck with me."

"We can help that." Megatron's fusion cannon whirred to life.

Starscream glared at him then turned back to the device. "I think this is from the Golden Age," he said.

"Your sharpness never ceases to amaze me. Of course it is a machine from the Golden Age if it is aboard a ship that is also from the Golden Age. What does it do?"

"No idea."

Megatron narrowed his optics. "Do not waste my time, Starscream. You know you'll regret it."

The Seeker smirked. "Oh, do forgive me if I was wrong about calling you. I was under the assumption that such a great and brilliant leader would be able to figure it out."

"But of course. Have you tried reading the manual for starters?" Megatron pointed at the inscription on the device.

"Do you think I'm completely stupid? …Never mind, it was a rhetorical question. For your information, it is ancient Cybertronian, more precisely Iaconian dialect and it says 'Everybody deserves a second chance'."

Megatron frowned. "That sounds like an Autobot motto to me."

"Agreed. It must've been written by Prime's grand-creator."

Megatron's comlink signaled an incoming call.

_Autobots detected__,_ Soundwave said. _Fourteen units approaching from the North-East. Awaiting orders._

Megatron swore. "Is Prime with them?"

_Affirmative._

"Hold them off, I'll be there ASAP." He turned to Starscream and motioned at the device. "Try it out and see if we can use it."

While the Air Commander went behind the machine to restore power, he started towards the door. He stopped halfway, though – should he warn him not to vandalize it? One could never know with Starscream.

"Don't damage it," he said. "And call me when you're done. Understood?"

Starscream's voice came muffled from the back of the room. "Wait a sec, almost got it…"

"Starscream?"

All of a sudden, the machine came to life. Some kind of a gun slid out of it and targeted the leader – Megatron barely had time to react before it shot at him with a laser beam. The only reason why it missed by a hair's breadth was that he managed to duck just in time. The gun followed his movements nonetheless and shot again; he merely dodged.

"Starscream_, turn it o—"_

The third shot hit him before he could have finished the sentence. His armor should have been durable enough to survive one hit but oddly it wasn't. He collapsed, warnings of system shutdown flashing in his vision. His last coherent thought before going offline was that he was going to kill Starscream for this.

- o -

"Oops. Looks like somebody forgot to turn it off before cutting the power source," Starscream said, straightening himself behind the device. "Maybe I should do that. But what were you saying?"

Crawling out of the space from behind the machine, Starscream was surprised to see … nobody; he frowned at this. He stepped forward about to investigate, but froze when he noticed his commander lying on the ground. He looked at the ancient gun, which was now retracted in its storage unit. Then he looked back at Megatron. It didn't take long for the ex-scientist to make the connection.

But fate couldn't be so generous, right? There was no way, that after several millennia's attempts to overthrow Megatron, it would be an accident that got rid of him.

Still, even though the tyrant had no visible wounds he wasn't moving, and that seemed promising. Starscream decided to cut the power for safety's sake, but before he could, the machine beeped. Then it emitted a deep, rumbling noise, prompting him to take a cautious step back.

A door opened on the side of the device, smoke rolling out like it was some sort of Frankenstein movie. Starscream leaned forward to glance inside, but before he could even get a good visual something fell out through the gap with a dull thud. The door closed and the machine fell silent. Not wanting Megatron's fate as well, the flier quickly turned it off.

Then he stood there for long moments staring at the small, silver… _thing_ that sat in front of him and was emitting clicks and chirrups every other second. He couldn't believe his own sensors.

"Oh, you've _got_ to be kidding."

- o -

Having informed Megatron about the upcoming threat, Soundwave looked for suitable cover. Scrapper glanced at him from where he was trying to strengthen an instable part of the ship with his gestalt mates. "Something wrong?" he asked.

"Constructicons: prepare to fight."

Hook rolled his optics. Scrapper sighed. "Come on, guys. Autobrats on the way."

"Thrust, Dirge, Ramjet: return to meeting point," Soundwave said through the comlink.

_Comin',_ Thrust said.

_On my way,_ Ramjet said.

_I'm almost at the cockpit, it'll take some time to get back there,_ Dirge said.

"Acknowledged."

Maybe one or two minutes had passed before Soundwave's audio receptors picked up the sound of engines. He pulled a gun out of subspace and knelt down behind a large rock.

This was the sign to everyone else with less sensitive hearing. Thrust and Ramjet, who had already emerged from the hull, took cover behind one of the enormous thrusters while the Constructicons scattered around the ship.

The engines stopped and they could hear the faint sounds of transformations. After that, the silence became so great that the click of Ramjet's cannon sounded like a sonic boom. Soundwave glanced in his direction and allowed himself a mental frown. No wonder the Coneheads had never become spies: they wouldn't have been stealthy enough to ambush a squadron of sparklings.

The energy signals indicated the Autobots were about two hundred yards away and approaching. Soundwave turned his audio receptors to a more sensitive setting and, after momentarily getting distracted by a moth, had no trouble picking up their footsteps, as well as something else. He couldn't determine the exact source, but it sounded a lot like the whine of several plasma cannons.

The world around him exploded in a swirl of shots, flashes and explosions as both sides engaged in a fire fight. He recalibrated his sensors for the loud sounds and fired his gun at the nearest Autobot. He couldn't see who it was – didn't care either – but the resulting cry of pain showed that his aim was still perfect. He crouched back behind the rock.

Someone ducked and fell beside him – he almost released a shot but realized it was Dirge. The Conehead cursed and peeked out from behind the rock.

"I don't mean to complain," he said, "but we're kinda outnumbered."

"Slag it! Where's Megatron?" Hook yelled from the far left. When Soundwave glanced there he saw the impressive figure of Optimus Prime wreaking havoc among the Constructicons.

He quickly called Megatron through the comlink but got no answer. Reluctantly, he switched to Starscream's frequency.

_This is Starscream._

"Confirm Lord Megatron's status. He fails to answer my calls."

A small pause. Then, _He's fine. Just having some certain… drawbacks, that's all._

"Assistance required."

_You're such a smart mech, Soundwave. I'm sure you can solve it on your own. Starscream out._

Soundwave looked around and debated his options. He was certain that Starscream had been lying, which meant that Megatron needed help. On the other hand, leaving the battle was risky: the Autobots were already at an advantage.

The safety of their leader had priority over any battle, though.

"Constructicons: take up position around the hull. Coneheads: provide support. Defend the ship until further notice."

He took off towards the door of the spacecraft.

- o -

Having finished his short conversation with Soundwave, Starscream crouched and tilted his head at the small creature in front of him. He had no doubt that this was a sparkling; the question was how a sparkling got here. Or why said sparkling was emitting Megatron's energy signature.

He had an explanation, of course, but he could hardly believe it himself. He glanced at the machine to the right. "At least we know what the inscription means. Now you have a second chance." He cackled. "Or at least you would if I didn't kill you now."

The sparkling stared up at him with wide crimson optics.

They stayed like that for a second. Then it started to cry.

Starscream rolled his optics. "Oh, come on. You ought to know that's not going to stop me from extinguishing your spark." He thought about it for a moment. "Well, normally it maybe would but not after millennia of abuse."

The sparkling cried harder.

"Very well. Because I'm such a great mech, I'll do you a favor. I've always intended this to be long and painful but now I promise I'll make it quick. I can't say it'll be painless because I've never been shot square in the spark. But it'll still be much better than my other ideas."

He targeted the sparkling with one of his arm cannons. "Let's get this over with before Soundwave decides to check on us. After the talk we had, he must suspect something."

"Freeze."

Starscream let out a dramatic sigh and turned around. "Talk about the Devil and he shall appear." The human saying fit the situation, although the Communications Officer standing at the door seemed unimpressed by the accurateness of the quote.

"Wave!"

Megatron – wow, it was weird to call a sparkling by that name – got up in the blink of an eye and like a flash of silver ran to his third-in-command and hugged his leg. Starscream scowled. So the slagger still knew who to run to. As for Soundwave, the sudden display of affection had clearly caught him off-guard, especially since he hadn't yet realized who the sparkling was. He looked down at the tiny creature now attached to his leg then glared at Starscream.

Someone who had never met Soundwave couldn't imagine the way he managed to glare while remaining emotionless at the same time.

"Explain."

"I'd rather not."

Soundwave glanced at Megatron's former frame, lying on the floor. Then he looked at the sparkling. Starscream could see he would make the connection in seconds, if he hadn't already.

The Second-in-Command held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, it was an accident. Megatron got shot by that machine. I don't know how the sparkling got here."

Soundwave tilted his head.

"And we don't need a sparkling anyway, so I'm going to kill it if you don't mind."

No reaction. This was what Starscream hated about the mech: he could never tell what Soundwave had on mind. For all he knew, the telepath was as likely to shoot Megatron for him as he was to step in and protect him.

Okay, maybe not _quite_ as likely.

His suspicions were proved right when Soundwave moved between him and the sparkling. The Communications Officer didn't raise the gun he was holding but the message was clear. Starscream narrowed his optics. If the glitch-head wanted to fight, he was not about to disappoint him. He was too close to leadership to give up now.

His null-rays fired up with a soft whine. Soundwave's shoulder cannon whirred to life in response.

They glared at each other for the longest time. They had never been friends: their opposing views upon Megatron's leadership prevented that. In fact, they had always been enemies, even though they shared the same faction. The routine hadn't changed for a long time: Starscream thought up a plan to overthrow Megatron, Soundwave caught wind of it and made sure he wouldn't succeed. Sometimes he managed to trick him and get to Megatron, but that was rare. It had been a battle of minds, based upon the silent agreement to leave both their weapons and their subordinates out. To tell the truth, Starscream had enjoyed it: it was a challenging game and he loved challenges.

But every game has to be over one day. The stakes had been raised too high: this time, one of them wouldn't survive.

Starscream fired his null-rays. Soundwave dodged and shot back with both his gun and his cannon. Neither hit the target: Starscream used his thrusters to fly across the room and hide behind a stack of boxes. From the cover he fired again and hit his opponent this time. Soundwave ducked behind the machine, pulling the sparkling with him.

Starscream's next shot hit the device though, and he could only hope that when this ended, it would be still repairable. He didn't want to lose such a valuable weapon, but at the moment his priority was disposing of Soundwave and Megatron, the former's shot almost hitting his head this time. He pulled back and crouched.

_Dirge to Starscream._

"What is it?" he snapped.

_We're losing the battle. We can't even use Devastator 'cause some Autoscum took out Long Haul. Soundwave told us to defend the ship, but we can't hold out much longer and we can't reach him. Neither can we reach Lord Megatron. What the slag is going on in there anyway?_

Starscream thought about the answer. He had no idea why Soundwave hadn't answered the call but he thought he should take advantage of it. He fired some rounds to keep him distracted.

That was when he discovered an interesting circumstance. Before the shooting began he had been standing between Soundwave and Megatron's dead frame. When he had flown to take cover Soundwave's shots had missed him and one of them apparently hit the frame instead. The energon left in it was now dripping to the floor.

Coincidentally, Soundwave's cannon was known to leave a mark just as characteristic as his own null-rays.

A plan began to formulate in his mind. Getting rid of these threats to his realm might be easier than he had thought.

_Starscream?_

"You can't reach Megatron, you say? Well, that must be because Soundwave shot him."

_What? Why in the Pit would Soundwave shoot Megatron?_

"You think I have an idea what that glitch-head thinks? You can come here and see for yourself. I could use some help anyway. He's trying to take me out at the moment."

_We're coming._

"When you get here, don't ask for an explanation. He'll shoot you too. He's either gone completely crazy or switched sides."

_Okay. Dirge out._

Lucky thing the Coneheads weren't the brightest mechs around. Starscream fired some shots again. He could only hope Soundwave had been too preoccupied with the fight to listen to the conversation because if he knew what he was planning, that could mean a problem. At least Starscream knew the limits of his telepathic powers: without a proper mind-probe, Soundwave could only have a general idea of his thoughts. He knew if he was about to attack him or if he was planning something against him but that was all. Normally the telepath would have added a precise analization of his body language to mind reading but that wasn't possible now.

Taking all of that into account, Starscream was sure he had the upper hand this time. If Soundwave wasn't aware of this, then it was all the better.

- o -

Soundwave glanced out from behind the machine. Things were not looking good. Whatever had happened to Megatron, it was obvious he wouldn't be in the condition to survive a battle. The logical step would be to get him out of here as soon as possible but Starscream wouldn't allow that. And to top it off, the seeker's last shot had damaged his comlink: he couldn't even call for help. He had to take out the seeker on his own.

Megatron didn't make his task any easier. He watched the flashes of guns in awe and didn't seem afraid at all, Soundwave even had to catch him before he could have run out into the open for a better view. Given his past life, this wasn't terribly surprising but still, the Communications Officer would have been far happier with a shier sparkling.

He was debating how he should attack when his audio receptors picked up approaching footsteps from the corridor. They told him it was the sound of three mechs roughly the same size as Starscream and he recognized the mental pattern. It was the three Coneheads. For whatever reason, they had apparently decided to check on them.

His opinion about them improved considerably.

When they stepped in, he turned to them. "Assistance needed. Capture Starscream."

They didn't move but stared at Megatron's frame that lay in the middle of the room. The sparkling he held behind his back was hidden from their optics.

"Holy Primus," Dirge said. "The slagger really shot him."

Soundwave didn't have time to figure out what on Cybertron he meant by that, because Thrust raised his gun and shot him. His battle experience kicked in and he rolled to the other side of the machine to be at least partially hidden from all his opponents. He glanced at the wound in his side; it was leaking energon but his more important systems were functional. Megatron stared at it with wide optics. Throughout the whole encounter, this was the first time he seemed scared. His behavior worried Soundwave: apparently, his emotional level was that of a sparkling's, which meant he hadn't been just put in a different frame. How it was even possible to turn someone into a sparkling like this, Soundwave had no idea. The fact that Megatron remembered him gave him some hope, though.

He fired a short round and glanced out of their cover. Starscream hadn't moved from behind the boxes; the Coneheads were hiding behind the door. He pulled his head back and their shots hit the wall behind him.

It was time to reconsider his strategy: he had to admit that he was at a severe disadvantage here. Four against one wasn't the best situation he had ever been in. Maybe showing the Coneheads what had really happened to Megatron would turn the table.

"Cease fire," he said. "I surrender."

The shooting stopped. Soundwave shut down his shoulder cannon and held up his gun as he stepped out of cover, Megatron trailing behind him.

"He's trying to trick you, fools!" Starscream yelled from his cover. He fired and Soundwave realized too late that he had targeted the sparkling and not him.

He managed to place himself between Megatron and the second shot but the damage had been done. The Coneheads opened fire as well. He picked up Megatron and threw himself in cover again.

Now he had a wound on his leg as well but he didn't care about that at the moment. The sparkling whimpered in pain. He had been hit in his stomach; the damage was severe but not irreparable. However, Megatron's chances of survival were grim if they remained here any further. He didn't have time left to convince the Coneheads: he had to get his commander to safety to be able to repair him.

His sonic amplifiers came to life with a noise so small that nobody except him could hear and recognize it. He told Megatron to turn off his audio sensors; somehow, through the pain, the sparkling complied. He did the same. He couldn't hear the cries of pain when the room exploded in one enormous sonic boom.

He didn't waste his time. He activated his thrusters and roared out of the room above the others' heads.

Maneuvering through the corridors wasn't such an easy task: Soundwave was no small mech and his agility in the air couldn't match that of the Seekers. Still, he managed to get out of the ship to where the Constructicons were still trying to fight back the Autobots. He released several powerful sonic strikes as he increased his speed to the maximum and soared high above the valley. He cloaked his signal and activated his audio receptors. Still, he was too far away to pick up the sounds of Starscream ordering the troops to retreat, the Coneheads taking off carrying Megatron's lifeless frame or even the shots of the enemy. As he made his way towards the nearest human settlement, the only thing he cared about was if the sparkling in his arms still functioned.


	2. A New Order

**Author's Note: **Wow. Just wow. Thank you everyone for your support, all the favs, alerts and, of course, the reviews. Those are what I like the most, and I take my time in responding to every single one^^ A very enjoyable duty, might I add. I also allow anonymus reviews, so if that's what is holding you back, go for it.  
Thank you P.A.W.07 for beta-reading this chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own Transformers. Soundwave keeps staring at me, though.

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Chapter Two: A New Order

Optimus Prime stood on a small hill, gazing at the wreck of the spaceship. The sun had just risen behind him as he inspected the investigation of the ship. It had crashed on Earth several million years before they did; its engines had malfunctioned. The files in its computer system had been lost unfortunately so they would never discover its mission or destination. Nobody on board had survived the crash, and the resulting explosions inside the hull.

As soon as they were done they would hold a ceremony for the deceased. But, first, they had to make sure there were no weapons left in the ship: the human government had expressed their desire to study it. According to their agreement they didn't share military technology with the humans but the leader of the Autobots knew that if they were to disobey that rule by accident, their hosts wouldn't complain.

He climbed down the hill and made his way towards his wounded soldiers. The battle against the Decepticons had gone better than expected but there always were injuries. As always, Ratchet had taken care of them.

This time, it was Blaster who had suffered the most extensive damage. He claimed it was Soundwave who had shot him right when the battle had begun. Optimus didn't say anything about the matter, but his personal opinion was that when it came to Blaster's counterpart and arch-rival, their Communications Officer was a little paranoid. At the moment, he was telling the story for the umpteenth time to an apathetic Jazz who was hurt on his shoulder.

Blaster looked up when he saw their commander.

"Sir?"

"Blaster, I think you should rest a bit. Maybe go into a light recharge. It would help you, not to mention Jazz, to recover."

Blaster's face turned bright red. "Yes, sir. I just can't get over how that glitch sneaked up on me."

"Relax, my friend. I'm afraid you can repay him soon enough."

Bumblebee appeared beside them. "Sir, we're done with the scouting. No weapons found."

"Good. Prepare to move out."

The young scout frowned. "Sir, I don't mean to be disrespectful but are you sure it's a good idea to let the humans have it?" He motioned at the spacecraft.

"They have asked for our permission to study it, and I see no harm in letting them do so." Optimus then turned his head and found Prowl with his optics; his SIC was reprimanding the Twins for something. "Are Ratchet and Wheeljack done yet?"

"No. We've found several machines in the storage area but they're all busted. Wheeljack wants to see if they can repair them."

"Machines? What kind exactly?"

"Wheeljack says they were used to create spare parts. They think this was a trading vessel heading for a colony or something."

"I see. You haven't found out what happened to Megatron, have you?"

Bumblebee shrugged. "If you ask me, he got shot, that's all. We found signs of a fight in one of the storage rooms."

"Starscream?"

"Probably."

It was less than surprising. "Did you find anything else in that room?"

"Nope, just some boxes and another old machine. But that got hit as well."

Optimus thought about it for a moment. It seemed to be nothing more than another attempt by Starscream to take command, except that everything indicated he had succeeded this time. This would mean a huge change for everyone; throughout the war, Megatron had been the leader of the Decepticons. Depending on Starscream's leadership skills, now the Decepticon army would either fall apart or become even stronger. Unlike many of his soldiers, the leader of the Autobots refused to underestimate the Seeker.

It was too early to jump to conclusions though. The Decepticons have taken Megatron with them, which meant he was likely to be still online. They might just repair him, and then things would be back to normal in no time. For now, he would have to put speculation aside and wait.

What bothered him more was Soundwave. It had been his behavior that had made him wonder in the first place if something major had happened in the other faction. The Decepticon Communications Officer wasn't known for leaving a battle before anyone else, yet he had practically fled from the valley the previous night; he hadn't been heading towards the _Nemesis_ either. Optimus had a feeling they shouldn't allow him to wander around, but finding Soundwave was far easier said than done. If he could easily disappear in their own base then how were they supposed to catch him out here? Still, he had sent out Hound and Mirage to a human city nearby: judging by the directions he had taken, that was the Decepticon's most likely destination. As for why, he couldn't for the life of him figure it out.

Except if he was hiding from Starscream. Being Megatron's most loyal officer, Soundwave was bound to have clashes with the Seeker. What Optimus didn't understand was why Starscream would try to hunt him down. The Air Commander wasn't stupid; he doubted he would drive away someone who could become one of his most powerful allies.

But again, he could only speculate until more information came in.

"Optimus Prime?"

Startled from his thoughts, he glanced down to see a human he hadn't met before. "Yes?"

The human cleared his throat. He wore a suit, a piece of clothing Optimus had long before learned to associate with the government. His voice didn't quiver when he spoke again, even though his heart rate betrayed his nervousness.

"My name is Dr. Jack Mandorn. I am the leader of the scientific team that will be studying the spaceship."

"Welcome then, Dr. Mandorn. How may I help you?"

"I came to check if everything is going well. Have your soldiers finished inspecting the ship?"

Optimus nodded. "Yes, although our scientists are still examining some of the devices found. You and your team can start your work soon."

"They will only arrive later in the morning," Mandorn said. "You have plenty of time."

"We will take the remains of the crew with us so that we can arrange a proper burial," Optimus said. "We might also take a few of the machines, if we can repair them. We will leave everything else here for you to study."

"Of course. My condolences."

"I did not have the pleasure to know any of them, but thank you. Our scientist, Wheeljack, will soon seek you out to brief you on what we learnt from our investigation."

"Thank you."

"Dr. Mandorn, I also have to warn you. We have good reason to think that not all Decepticons have returned to their base. They might be still nearby, although their intentions are unknown. Security is of the essence."

"There will be military troops watching over us. If you think we are in danger then maybe you should talk to their leader, Lieutenant Vasquez."

"I will. We shall remain in contact with them so that if you do get attacked, we can come to your aid."

He could see genuine gratitude in Mandorn's eyes as he nodded in acknowledgement. He decided that he liked this human: he seemed honest and brave. Neither characteristic was common among the politicians and diplomats he usually had to work with, and he welcomed the change.

He watched Mandorn as he excused himself and wandered off to examine the hull from outside. Optimus could see he was a typical scientist who couldn't wait to discover something new. He smiled to himself: just like Wheeljack. It was intriguing how different and yet how similar their species were.

He averted his gaze and fixed it on his soldiers, who were chatting in the shadow of the hull. He hoped Ratchet and Wheeljack would be done soon; he didn't intend to stay here for long. The ancient spacecraft reminded him of the times before the war and how much they had lost. It made it difficult to focus on the future.

But right now he had work to do. He had to contact this Lieutenant Vasquez and prepare him for what might come. No matter what was going on with the Decepticons, he wasn't about to let innocent people die in the crossfire.

- o -

Starscream decided that things were looking good. At the moment he sat on Megatron's throne debating what to do now that he had finally reached the top of the command chain. It should be something to strengthen his currently fragile position, of that he was certain.

He expected the Coneheads and the Stunticons to be easy to handle: the latter were young, the former stupid. The Combaticons he could blackmail into supporting him. Skywarp and Thundercracker would be loyal to him unless they found out Megatron was alive.

That was the biggest problem. Anyone who might follow his lead would turn against him if they knew that Megatron hadn't ceased to function yet. He had allowed them to bring the body back to the _Nemesis_ because he knew there was no way to repair it. Sure enough, Scrapper had just reported that they had been unable to save the leader. Starscream hadn't bothered to act like he was sorry.

"Hey, Screamer!"

Starscream pursed his lips. "It's _Lord Starscream_ now, Skywarp. Try to remember it, unless you want a new vocal processor to replace the one I'm going to tear out."

"Whatever, _Lord_ Screamer. Just thought I'd tell you that Blitzwing and Astrotrain are gathering supporters to overthrow you."

Starscream looked at his wingmate now; Skywarp was standing at the door. The self-appointed leader of the Decepticons smirked.

"Where're they?"

"In the rec. room. What're you gonna do?"

"Remind them why I have always been their superior officer." Starscream got up from the throne and walked past the other Seeker.

Skywarp grinned. "Go Screamer! Show'em who's boss!"

He warped out just in time to avoid the shots.

- o -

Upon walking into the rec. room, Starscream found himself in a beginning rebellion. Blitzwing was standing in the middle of the room with Astrotrain by his side. It was interesting that they had teamed up again. Both of them were present on Starscream's imaginary list of problematic characters. They were holding a speech at the moment and the Air Commander (he had no intention to leave that title behind) could see that many of the soldiers were close to joining them.

"I'm telling you," Blitzwing said, "that glitch-head's going to ruin us. He's no leader and he'll never be, no matter what titles he gives himself. If we let him do what he wants, we won't stand a chance against the Autobots."

"Exactly. We have to stop him while we still can," Astrotrain said.

Clamor of approval filled the room.

Starscream narrowed his optics. How did they dare criticize him? They were nothing compared to him, no more than two rambling fools who didn't know a thing about leading an army.

"What interesting ideas you have," he said. The room fell silent as everyone turned to look at him. Blitzwing and Astrotrain weren't intimidated by his presence: defiance was written on their face as they glared at him.

Starscream moved closer, like a predator stalking its prey. "I'm curious now. If you think I'm unfit for leadership, then you must have excellent ideas on how to defeat our enemies. What have you come up with? Zone defense with an army of trains?"

Blitzwing straightened up. "You're not scaring us, Starscream. Nobody wants you for leader."

"Problem is, this is not a democracy. I couldn't care less about what you want."

"Is that what you told Soundwave too?" Blitzwing said.

"Soundwave is a traitor, not to mention completely crazy. He killed Megatron, attacked me as well, and then flew away."

"Only the Coneheads are stupid enough to believe that story."

"Then go and see for yourself or ask the Constructicons; they've just finished examining the corpse."

"Well, if it was really Soundwave who killed Megatron then he should be the new leader," Astrotrain said. "You did nothing to earn the title."

"You think so? Then I guess it's time to change that."

Starscream had already prepared his null-rays and now he fired. Astrotrain went down in a single shot. Blitzwing managed to fire back but Starscream dodged and took him out as well. The room erupted in cries and yells. No other shot was fired, though; Starscream pointed his null-rays at the general public. Skywarp and Thundercracker appeared beside him.

"Anybody else care to challenge me?" Starscream asked, one of his trademark smirks playing on his lips. He had been Megatron's highest-ranked officer for a reason and everyone at the base knew that. They just needed to be shown that yes, he was still as powerful as ever.

The reminder worked. They gave him angry looks but nobody dared to move.

"Good," he said. "As for my first order as leader: I want Soundwave offline. Since he's probably cloaked his energy signal, we'll have to search for him. I think he's still close to the shipwreck so first we'll go there. Any questions?"

"Yeah. How do you think we can catch a professional spy?" Thundercracker asked.

Starscream flashed his wingmate a dark smile. "Be creative."

In truth, he was wondering as well. How was one supposed to catch Soundwave, who was infamous for being able to fool an entire army?

The answer was simple: one needed to think like he would. It was safe to assume that he didn't approve of Megatron's current state and wanted to change him back. He would soon go back to the ship.

And when he did, the trap would be waiting.

- o -

"All right. Tell me you've suddenly developed a sense of humor and this is a joke."

The look his creator gave Frenzy convinced him that it definitely wasn't a joke. The young Decepticon glanced at his brother for support, but Rumble seemed just as lost as he was.

They were hiding in an abandoned warehouse. Rays of sunlight filtered through the holes in the roof and enlightened the crates and boxes scattered around the building. But the cassettes weren't interested in the environment: they were busy being astonished at the sparkling lying on top of a large table.

Soundwave may not have been a qualified medic, but he had a lot of field experience. Together with his knowledge of sparklings, this had allowed him to save Megatron. The little one was in recharge at the moment, still trying to recover from the shock.

Frenzy looked at the Communications Officer. Soundwave was sitting on the ground, tending to his own damages at last – lucky thing he always carried a medkit with him. He didn't look tired but all his creations could sense that he was, in fact, exhausted. He hadn't recharged for two earthen days and had also spent almost a joor repairing the tiny, fragile wiring of the sparkling.

In two breems the temporary repairs were done. Soundwave put away the medkit and got up.

"_You should recharge,"_ Ravage said from his place atop a large crate.

"Negative. Safety level of building: low. Staying here would be inadvisable."

Rumble rolled his optics. "Come on, boss. We're gonna stand guard for ya. Go get some sleep."

"Exactly," Frenzy added. "We can't move anyway. We've got to wait till night."

After some moments of debating, Soundwave had to admit the suggestion was logical.

"Rumble?" he said, lying down.

"Hmm?"

"Stop using human expressions."

"Oh. Sure. Got it." The purple cassette grinned and saluted.

Frenzy shook his head. "So, who should be first?"

Ravage snorted. _"You wouldn't notice Omega Supreme if he was trying to sneak up on us. Better leave the guard duty to Laserbeak, Buzzsaw and me."_

Rumble glared at his older brother. "Are ya sayin' I'm ignorant?"

"_Oh, of course not. Why would I say such a thing?"_

Rumble clenched his fists. "I'll beat the crap outta ya!"

Ravage laughed and jumped off the crate. He headed outside. Rumble almost went after him but Frenzy caught him in time.

"What the slag are you doing? Do you want to sit there and watch out for Autobots all day?"

Rumble grunted but stopped. "Just ya wait!" he yelled. "Crazy panther…"

A moment later they both felt their creator's gaze on them.

"Rumble?"

The youngling humped up his shoulders. "Yeah, boss?"

"Stop yelling."

"Uh, sure. Sorry, boss."

Soundwave was back in recharge in seconds. The twins stared at him.

"Ya know, I'm kinda worried about him," Rumble whispered.

Frenzy nodded. "He recharges way too little. And if we stay out here, chances are that won't change anytime soon."

They walked to the table. Megatron recharged in peace and let out tiny clicks every now and then.

"Never thought I'd say this about Megatron," Frenzy said, "but he's sorta cute."

"Yeah. Not sure he's worth it, though. All this trouble."

Frenzy shrugged. "I won't question Soundwave's judgment. Besides, once this is over we'll waltz into the _Nemesis_ and save the day."

"If ya say so."

Frenzy grinned. "Come on, bro. How hard can it be to beat Screamer?"

"Heh, true. That dumbass."

"_Don'__t use human terms."_

"Slag it, Ravage."

"_Besides, would it kill you to come outside? You say you're concerned about Soundwave but you keep__ talking and yelling right into his audio sensors."_

Before Rumble could've retorted, Soundwave's voice boomed through the link. _"Argument unnecessary. Chances of quiet: zero."_

"Ouch. That hurt, boss."

Frenzy sighed. "Come on. Let's let him recharge. And keep quiet."

"It's ya who's talkin' all the time."

"_Do not leave the vicinity of the building. Should anything happen, alert me. Soundwave out."_

The two cassettes walked out of the warehouse, onto an alley. They couldn't see Ravage, even though the link told them he was in the neighboring building. Their eldest brother could be just as stealthy as their creator.

Frenzy was certain he and his twin brother would never be like that.

"So, what're we gonna do?" Rumble asked.

"No idea. There's nothing around here. Not even a video games store we could raid."

This was going to be a long day indeed.

- o -

"Wave?"

Soundwave stirred. He hadn't fully recharged yet.

"Waaaaaaaave!"

He onlined his optics and jerked back his head when he saw Megatron's face inches from his own. The sparkling yelped and fell off of his chest, but he caught him. At the same time, he scanned his surroundings – no danger detected. He could sense his cassettes scattered around the building but that was all – the only notable thing was that it was already dark outside. Apparently, he had spent the entire day recharging. He returned his gaze to Megatron.

"Define problem," he said.

"I'm bored!"

Soundwave got up and walked to the table. Megatron sensed what was about to come and squirmed, but to no avail. Soundwave put him on the table and held him down.

"Be still," he commanded.

Naturally, the sparkling didn't obey. Soundwave emitted infra-sounds to soothe him and it worked.

At least as long as he didn't try to inspect the repairs because, at that point, Megatron began to squirm and giggle.

"Is he ticklish?" Frenzy asked, appearing next to his creator.

"Sparklings: generally ticklish," Soundwave replied.

Having finished the short examination, he released Megatron. The sparkling dropped to the ground and trotted away, only to fall on his aft after literally running into Rumble.

"Ya okay, lil' fella?" Rumble grinned. "Ya better watch out around tha' big mechs."

Frenzy frowned. "Like you?"

"What do ya mean?"

"Nothing."

"Ya think I'm small?"

"Of course not."

Rumble glared at him. "I don't believe ya."

"_You two produce the dumbest conversations I've ever heard,"_ Laserbeak said. He flew in through a broken window and sat on a barrel.

"Nobody asked ya, birdie."

Tired of being ignored, Megatron started to cry.

Rumble threw him an annoyed look. "Someone, shut him up."

Soundwave walked over and lifted the sparkling. Megatron hiccupped then fell silent, beginning to fiddle with his shoulder cannon.

"I can't believe we used to be like that," Frenzy said.

"_Trust me, you did,"_ Ravage said, walking in and taking a seat on a box.

"Affirmative," Soundwave said. "The same applies for you."

Ravage sent the mental equivalent of a grimace through the link. Rumble laughed.

"So, what are we going to do with him?" Frenzy asked.

"Change him back, what else?" Rumble said.

Soundwave looked down at Megatron. Of course, changing him back into his former self would be most preferable, although that might be more difficult than his youngling thought. In order to find a reverse process, first he had to know what had happened inside that ship. And there was only one way to find it out.

"Laserbeak, prepare for flight. Operation: reconnaissance."


	3. Captured

**Disclaimer:** Nope, I still don't own. But it doesn't matter, because TRANSFORMERS 3 IS COMING! YAY! ... Ahem. Sorry for the outburst.

**Author's Note:** Guess what: it's an update! Sorry for the delay. First I had an important exam, then my birthday was coming up (I'm 18, yay!) and it's pretty hard to concentrate on writing when there's a shiny new digital tablet sitting on your desk^^

Anyway, I would like to thank you all again for your support, most of all the anonymus reviewers, because I can't send them a message. I also have to say that while it's truly flattering that some people are worried if I'll continue, there's no need for them to be. I enjoy writing this story and I also have the outline so I won't get writer's blocks. However, as I have to study (and I'm admittedly not the fastest writer), updates might come a little slow. I would like to post a chapter every 2-3 weeks, though.

One more thing, and I'll shut up. I'm overjoyed that you think the characters are IC so far as that is the main goal I want to achieve with this story. As you can see, I'm dealing with a lot of POVs, which is as challenging as it is enjoyable. This is why I'm asking for your help: if you encounter OOCness in this fic, please tell me. Any form of concrit is also welcome, by the way. Thank you in advance!

Thank you P.A.W.07 for beta reading!

**Edit: **I fixed an issue with Thundercracker's characterization. Thank you Archaeopteryx Feather for pointing it out!

* * *

Chapter Three: Captured

Jack Mandorn stepped out of his tent. Most of the others had already retreated into their temporary homes, so he wouldn't be disturbed. This was his favorite part of the day: the sun had just disappeared behind the bulk of the spaceship and a cool breeze was playing with the grass. A perfect time for a walk to let the events of the day sink in.

Truth be told, they hadn't found anything spectacular yet. The ship was enormous and they hadn't even been able to explore the entire storage area — Groven and Waver had wandered several hundred yards into the hull to find the entrance to the living quarters before he had called them back. According to the Autobots, the cockpit was well over a mile from this end of the spacecraft, which meant if they wanted to see everything, they were going to stay for a while. He didn't complain about that.

On his route across the field, he noticed a soldier. A lot of them were staying here with the scientists, and he wasn't overjoyed at that. They had taken Optimus Prime's warning very seriously and had applied safety measures that had no other use than making the team's life difficult.

The soldier looked at him and nodded. "Good evening, Dr. Mandorn," he said.

"Good evening," Mandorn replied. "I'm taking a walk. Is that all right?"

The soldier eyed the forest warily. "Just keep close to the camp."

Mandorn nodded and left. He took a narrow path along the edge of the forest and was soon buried in his thoughts again. His mind didn't even register the sound of the crickets.

From the objects they had found and categorized in the ship his thoughts turned towards the people. He had been blessed with a group full of expert scientists, all of them were great names in their respected fields. There were Kirk Waver and Jonathan Peters, both archeologists; Katherina Leander, the astro-biologist; Matthew Groven, the anthropologist and Bradley and Jacob Anderson, the engineers. They even got along with each other, except for Peters, who had turned out to be a rather grumpy fellow.

The path took a turn and entered the shadow of the trees. He followed it without a second thought, ignoring the darkness lurking among the trunks. His mind drifted back to the soldiers and their leader, Lt. Vasquez. He didn't like the man; he was cold and calculating. In the short time they had spent in each other's company, he had never once smiled. Mandorn, who tried to be open and honest whenever possible, had always detested his type.

The scientist sighed. It would have been much better if some Autobots had stayed to protect them. After all, what could a group of human soldiers do against Decepticons, even if armed with rocket launchers?

On the other hand, he didn't think the giant metallic warriors posed a threat at the moment. Of course, he had heard stories about them and knew full well how dangerous they were. But they had left the spaceship because it didn't have any weapons. Why would they return? They must have more interesting things to do than attacking a small scientific team.

A sudden movement caught his eye and snapped him out of his thoughts. He stopped and scanned the area — he was deep in the forest by now. He couldn't see anything except the tree branches stretching out of the darkness like vicious claws threatening to grasp him. Even the movement he had seen for a split second had stopped, leaving the forest still and quiet.

Very quiet.

Where were the crickets? When had the chirping died? Mandorn looked around, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach. The darkness had claimed the trees further than a couple of steps away, urging his imagination to replace them with hostile creatures lurking about, ready to pounce on him and tear into his flesh. He could sense something out there. Was it the Decepticons, or some wolves or other predators? He didn't know.

He stood there for a couple of moments; nothing happened. Mentally slapping himself, he shook his head. Wolves and Decepticons, sure, and the next evening he would be drinking tea with Freddy Krueger.

Still, it was getting very dark. He cursed himself for not bringing a torch — now he was forced to go back to the camp. Maybe it was for the best: his imagination was particularly vivid tonight. He looked around for one last time, trying to penetrate the darkness with his gaze. Failing, he shrugged and turned around.

It was then that it happened. A low, humming noise came from the heart of the forest. A second later a gust of wind arrived; as he stood and watched in disbelief, it became a storm and before he knew it, he had to fight to stand upright and cried out in surprise. What the heck was going on?

With one last blow the wind knocked him over and he fell on his butt. He searched frantically for something – anything – in the night surrounding him but, like before, found nothing. He trembled as he got on his feet. The wind had stopped and the forest was silent again. For a moment he wasn't sure if the whole thing had really happened; then that low humming rose up again.

Mandorn turned on his heels and ran back to the camp as fast as his legs would take him.

- o -

Thundercracker followed the human with his optics, Skywarp's mad cackle echoing in his audio receptors. He turned to his wingmate.

"Was that _absolutely_ necessary?"

Skywarp doubled over. "Sweet Primus, did you see his face?"

Thundercracker shook his head. "Congrats, 'Warp. You managed to freak out an organic." He paused. "What's so fragging funny?"

Skywarp grinned at him. "You know what your problem is? You need to relax."

"I don't relax in the middle of a mission."

Starscream's voice rang out of Thundercracker's comlink. _Would you two knock it off? How many times do I need to tell you to be stealthy?_

The blue Seeker grimaced. "Yes sir." He slapped Skywarp in the back of the head, earning a half-hearted glare.

Deciding to ignore his friend, he settled down next to a tree and continued his surveillance of the human camp. It wasn't large or well-protected: they could destroy it with one attack. In fact, they _would_ destroy it as soon as they dealt with Soundwave. Thundercracker watched the fleshlings as they moved about and, for a moment, felt pity for them. Their fate was sealed and they didn't stand a chance, not even if they managed to contact the Autobots. It would be over before reinforcements could arrive. He would take no pleasure in their destruction; he had always hated to kill defenseless creatures.

Skywarp sat down next to him. "What'cha thinking about?"

"Nothing."

"Come on, TC. I know that look. Something isn't right."

Thundercracker sighed; his wingmate wouldn't understand. Besides, he was a warrior. He could deal with guilt.

_This is Starscream. We spotted Laserbeak entering the area. Don't attack until Soundwave shows himself. Oh, and from this point on, maintain radio silence. Starscream out._

"Great," Skywarp mumbled.

Thundercracker frowned — so the rogue Decepticon had indeed come. But why would he return to this worthless shipwreck? One thing was for sure: Starscream knew more than he was letting on.

The blue Seeker checked his cloaking system, and found it functional. This small addition to his equipment was the most professional device one could get without having a frame specifically designed for spying. Unlike the system Soundwave and his cassettes were using, it was unable to cloak moving energy signals, but as long as he stayed in one place, he was practically invisible. This was the first time he had used it: it was only good for ambushing people, which Seekers rarely did.

"So, what pose should I spend the next breems in?" Skywarp asked. Getting up, Thundercracker glanced at him; he was attempting to put his foot behind his audio receptor. As his wingmate watched, he lost his balance and fell on his back.

Thundercracker frowned. "What the slag are you doing?"

Skywarp got up in an instant and scratched his head. "Trying to pull you out of your daily share of self-pity. But I'll admit I failed."

"Yeah. In fact, it was an epic fail."

Thundercracker looked at his friend for a couple of moments. Unfortunately, Skywarp's grin tended to be contagious.

"You're such an idiot," the blue Seeker said, turning away to hide his smile.

Naturally, Skywarp noticed it anyway. His grin widened. "Good thing you don't care."

- o -

Laserbeak descended from the clouds. The valley lay in front of him, the spaceship an ominous black shape in the middle of the moonlit field. He checked for energy signals, and found none. He could sense humans, though; he detected thirty-three in a small camp right next to the wreck. Noting their presence, he flew past them and landed on a thruster of the ship. From there, he inspected the area.

Some of the humans were armed, but that wouldn't mean a problem. What he was searching for were Autobots or Decepticons. After a couple of astroseconds he confirmed the area was clear.

Soundwave met his telepathic report with one word. _"Proceed."_

Laserbeak leapt forward and glided down to the hatch. He entered the spaceship and followed the instructions he had received from his creator before leaving the warehouse. It didn't take him long to find the storage room with the device responsible for Megatron's state in it.

It looked just like what his creator had told him: a large, grey machine with many buttons and lights. He could also see the gun retracted in a compartment on the left side of it. But the device clearly needed repairs: it was covered with dark burn marks and the blasts had damaged its inner circuitry as well. Laserbeak scanned it and found that when active, it used up an extensive amount of energy. Not much else was revealed — the matter required further research. The condor landed on top of the machine and took pictures of it before diving behind it to examine the wiring and interface. Having stored all the data he could get, he moved to the front to inspect the damages. He recorded everything he saw; more information meant fewer variables, less surprises and more efficiency. That was a rule you learned when spending your life with Soundwave.

Mission complete, he fired up his thrusters to leave. His creator would use this footage to plan the rest of the operation and they would soon return together to study and repair the machine.

He reached the exit and landed on his perch atop the engine of the ship. Once again, he scanned the area and, like before, found no trace of other Cybertronians. He flapped his wings, and — wait, what was that?

He barely had time to register the roar of engines as a jet came charging towards him. In a flash of red and blue, Starscream swooped down and almost hit him; momentarily panicking, Laserbeak took off. He could detect the Seeker's energy signal now, but how had it escaped his notice before? It was not like Starscream could just pop out of nowhere like that… but there was no time to speculate: the jet took a sharp turn and approached again, this time with blazing cannons. It was then that Laserbeak realized the Seeker hadn't noticed him before. Had he remained still, he would have passed by him and entered the ship. The condor cursed and dodged. He sprinted towards the forest — Starscream was much faster, which meant he wouldn't stand a chance out in the open.

However, he had to reconsider this plan when he sensed several more energy signals. They must have been cloaked and hiding among the trees. Laserbeak narrowly escaped Thrust's grasp, passed between Ramjet and Skywarp and managed to avoid Thundercracker's shots. But he couldn't get into the forest; the only way left open was up into the sky.

He ascended, the Seekers rushing after him. Fear ripped through his spark when he realized Starscream wasn't among them; his optics searched frantically for his most dangerous opponent, but found him too late. As the air commander raised his cannons, Laserbeak didn't have time to dodge. The null-ray blasts hit him, and then he knew no more.

- o -

Starscream watched as the condor fell. His subordinates landed around him, ignoring the human camp that looked like a disturbed anthill. While Dirge went to pick up Laserbeak, Thundercracker gave the leader a look.

"I thought we were waiting for Soundwave."

"The plan has changed," Starscream said.

"Why?" Ramjet inquired.

"Because I said so."

Thundercracker snorted. "That's the problem. You didn't say anything."

Starscream threw him a glare. "Do you, perhaps, have a problem with my leadership, Thundercracker?"

"Can't say there isn't room for improvement."

"'Can we just go home?" Skywarp asked, moving between them.

"Hmph." Starscream took Laserbeak from Dirge. He tore off the cassette's small cannons — his null-rays had merely put him offline, and he didn't need him to start shooting when he came online.

He pursed his lips and silently cursed Soundwave. Of course, he should have known the coward would send one of the little brats instead of coming here himself. Perhaps, if Starscream had been more patient, he would have showed up; but, as he had realized while waiting in the forest, he couldn't allow him to gather information about the machine. No, he wouldn't risk Megatron return. The spaceship, and the device aboard it, had to be destroyed.

Besides, he had another decoy now.

"So, what do we do now?" Skywarp asked.

Something hit Starscream. It was so tiny he barely felt it; had he known what a mosquito bite felt like, he would have compared it to that. Nevertheless, he turned in the direction it came from, and saw a group of humans shooting tiny rockets at him.

What an annoying species.

Starscream frowned; then his frown turned into a dark grin. "Let it _burn_."


	4. Negotiating

**Author's Note:** Welcome back, everyone. Before you start throwing rotten tomatoes at me, let me apologize for the extremely long delay. Among the many things that kept me from updating sooner were exams, my prom, a computer virus and my inability to write Starscream. Nevertheless, I haven't died nor have I abandoned this story. I'm back, although I can't promise fast updates since I'm rapidly approaching my finals. In order to make up for my long absence though, I proudly present the longest chapter of Restart so far. Thank you for sticking with me, and please enjoy! I live for reviews, so if it's not too much trouble, please write me one. I'd like to thank everyone who told me their opinion about this fic so far, I greatly appreciate it!  
Naundi: If you log in next time, I'll be able to send you a message about my progress^^ I hope you'll like this chapter.

**Special thanks goes to:** P.A.W.07 for the grammar check, and Archaeopteryx Feather for her input on the characters. If you think Starscream's IC in this, thank her and not me^^ She also takes credit for some of his lines.

**Disclaimer:** Actually, I have to admit that I do own Transformers. I'm just good at hiding it.

* * *

Chapter Four: Negotiating

The valley was overrun with chaos. Rescue teams searched for survivors, accompanied by an army of soldiers; in the middle of the field a large tent stood, where medics treated the wounded. Helicopters landed and took off, stirring up and dispersing the column of smoke rising to the sky, the sound of their spinning rotors drowning out the conversations and yelled commands.

In the middle of it all, still as a cliff in the sea, stood Optimus Prime. His posture was a perfect reflection of his personality. He stood firm and upright, his head raised high - never faltering, always in control. The driving force behind the Autobots, their support, the one they put their faith into. The one who always had a plan, whose decisions and commands nobody questioned. It was all there, condensed in his form outlined by the rising sun; a statue of calmness that could never be shaken by the war.

Appearances, however, can be deceiving.

Beneath the surface, behind the mask that concealed his emotions so well, a storm of self recrimination was raging. Why hadn't he anticipated this? He should have left some Autobots to guard the scientists, or at least have prepared the human soldiers better. But he had neglected this, believing that Soundwave was the biggest threat and therefore choosing to search for him instead, thus leaving the humans as easy prey for the other Decepticons. How could it even cross his mind that they wouldn't return? He had made a terrible mistake, and, what's worse, civilians had paid for it.

"It isn't your fault."

Startled from his gloomy thoughts, Optimus turned around and came face to face with Prowl. His Second-in-Command held a datapad in his hand, probably full of damage reports from the various teams searching the ruins.

Optimus sighed, offlining his optics for a moment. "I am in command, Prowl. I could have prevented this had I made a different decision. But I did not."

"There's no point in blaming yourself. What we have to do now is save what's salvable."

Prowl was right. With great effort, Optimus banished the dark thoughts, locking them away in the back of his mind. For the moment, his processor was clear; he wished he could say that about his conscience.

"Very well," he said. "What do we have so far?"

Prowl glanced at the datapad. "There were a total of thirty-three humans in the area; seven civilians and twenty-six military personnel. Of the thirty-three people twenty-two died, six survived, five are still missing."

Optimus' guilt resurfaced, attacking him with full force as he processed the information. So many lives lost, sacrificed yet again on the altar of a senseless war. "What about the missing five?"

Prowl shook his head. "Seems like they tried to use the spaceship for cover. They must have been caught under a collapsed part." He hesitated. "We… cannot detect any life signals in there."

Five more casualties, then. Optimus realized he had clenched his fists and made an effort to relax them. He glanced at Prowl; the tactician was waiting for his response.

"And the survivors?" he asked. "What is their status?"

"There are three minor and two serious casualties; the remaining one person has grave injuries and a high chance of going offline in the next four joors."

"I see. Is there anyone who can be questioned?"

"That would be a negative. Two of the minor casualties are soldiers and the military won't let us interrogate them yet. The third one is a civilian, but he's in shock."

"A civilian? Who is it?"

Prowl brought up further information on the datapad. "Jack Mandorn, 33. An expert of robotics. Most notable deed: he managed to reverse engineer a Cybertronian joint control processor, and applied it to a human-made robot."

So at least his acquaintance was alive. Optimus made a mental note to check on him as soon as he got better. For now, he gazed at the spaceship – a colossal pile of smoking, blackened metal that covered a major part of the valley, some fragments of the plating embedded in the hillside a kilometer from the wreck itself. An explosion had occurred in the energy core deep underground, showering the surroundings with rocks, debris and twisted stay-rods. As always, the Decepticons had done a fine job.

"Has Hound reported yet?" Optimus asked.

"Yes, but they found no sign of Soundwave. No surprise there."

"Indeed. Maybe I should call them back."

Prowl frowned a little; Optimus waited patiently as he assessed the situation with his battle computer. Finally, the tactician looked at him again. "I'm not sure about this, Prime. As far as we know, he might have already returned to the _Nemesis_, but something tells me he's still out there. We don't have the full picture here; we're missing something."

"Agreed. There are too many unknown factors. Something is definitely going on with the Decepticons – as for what, I can only guess."

"Do you want me to plan a spy mission?"

"Not yet. For now, let us concentrate on the task at hand. We have to clean up this mess; only when we are done here can we start thinking about a counterattack. Do any of the troops need help?"

"I guess they could use a hand with cleaning up the rubble."

"Then we will join them." Optimus glanced at the dark figures moving in and out of the smoke as they worked on the wreck. Yes, they would do as much as they could – and after that, they would take the initiative for once and find out what the Decepticons were after. He was tired of always being one step behind.

- o -

It was almost midday. Hot sunrays showered at the city, vaporizing whatever liquid had been left out in the open. The only movement far and wide was some children playing football, kicking up dirt that came to rest on the wilted plants in the shade. Luckily for them, they kept their distance from the old warehouse.

Inside the building the temperature was far more pleasant. Not that it mattered much, at least not to Soundwave – the information coming from his many sensors was noted but ignored as he traversed the gaping hole in the mental link, searching for Laserbeak. His creation had been captured but not destroyed, as far as he was aware of. Now he was waiting for him to come online and report his status and location.

He found nothing, his telepathic call unheard in the void. After some further attempts to reach Laserbeak, he decided to check on his other younglings instead. Buzzsaw landed on his shoulder. Although the condor didn't show any sign of uncertainty, his worry for his twin was obvious inside the link. Soundwave sent a wave of reassurance and received gratitude in return. He could sense the reluctance of his creation to leave; ever since Laserbeak's last cry of pain had shattered the serenity of the link, Buzzsaw had kept close to him. Soundwave didn't point this out – he knew the youngling would feel embarrassed if he did. All of them were trying so hard to grow up.

They approached a corner where Rumble and Frenzy were keeping Megatron occupied.

"Hey, let go! Why, ya lil' …" Rumble's sentence was interrupted by a shot.

Somewhat worried, Soundwave hurried his steps. Peeking behind a stack of crates, he found a smoking hole in the wall, an annoyed Rumble, a grinning Frenzy and a giggling silver sparkling. Rumble gave him an exasperated look. "Do something, the slagger's obsessed with guns!"

Soundwave tilted his head. "That is to be expected from a gunformer."

"Can't he wait till he can _form_ a gun?" Rumble dove in to snatch his weapon that was now lying on the floor.

"Negative. Keep it out of his reach."

"Gee, thanks a lot. Wouldn't have figured."

Frenzy looked up at Soundwave, the smile gone from his face. "What's with 'Beak?"

"Status unknown. I am unable to find him."

Buzzsaw shifted on his shoulder. "_They must've taken him to the Nemesis._" He sent the words to everyone in the link.

"Affirmative."

"Then what the slag are we waitin' for?" Rumble asked. "Let's go and beat the crap outta them!"

"No. Attacking the _Nemesis_ would be suicide. Further information is needed."

"Frag the information! What if they _kill_ _him_?"

Soundwave didn't reply for a moment – he wasn't sure what to say. Nobody knew the security systems of the _Nemesis_ as well as he did – he had designed them himself. But Starscream had the advantage of numbers now, commanding the entire Decepticon army. He could assign dozens of guards to Laserbeak and make any rescue attempt impossible. Going there could very well result in the capture of even more of Soundwave's younglings, something he wasn't willing to risk.

The silence stretched. Rumble glared at him. "Are you gonna just leave him there?"

That simple question was like a stab in the spark. Soundwave was disgusted with himself – if only for a moment, he had almost viewed the loss of his youngling as something necessary. Had he really become so cold and indifferent, even to his family? He was a creator and a creator's purpose was to protect every single one of his creations. That basic command overwrote any other programming. He would fight for Laserbeak and save him, and it didn't matter if he ceased to function in the process, because that was what had to be done. No other course of action was acceptable.

He paused in his thoughts. Yes, that would be true, if he didn't have four other creations to look after. Could he really risk all of them for one? A horrible decision, but something he needed to think through. Logic had to be used here, something that creator's programming didn't involve. No matter how much it hurt, he had to put his feelings aside.

"I'm sorry."

Soundwave blinked behind his visor. He forced his attention back to the real world and immediately noticed the waves of shame coming from Rumble. The young Decepticon hung his head, pursing his lips. "I didn't mean to say that. It's just… I can't sit here and do nothin.' It's killin' me."

Soundwave sent warmth and encouragement to all of his creations, and silently swore to do everything in his power to rescue Laserbeak. "We will find a way. But we have to wait until he comes online." He could only hope that would present him with better options than the current situation.

His mind burdened with trouble, he walked away from the twins and sought out his eldest in the link. He hid his distress – there was no reason to upset his younglings any further. _"Ravage, report status and location."_

"_Inside the building to the West, monitoring the area,"_ the answer came. _"No enemy units detected, area secure for now."_

"_Acknowledged. Watch out for Autobots; four energy signals have been detected in the city."_

"_I will remain on guard."_

"Wave!"

Soundwave halted, and Megatron bumped into his leg. He glanced down at the sparkling, who was rubbing his nose.

"Oww."

The Communications Officer picked him up and inspected his face; it hadn't been damaged. He made a mental note to be more careful – for such a small thing, Megatron was fast and he also showed a tendency to be underfoot. It wouldn't do to step on him by accident.

"Return to Rumble and Frenzy," Soundwave said.

"No! They don't have pretty cannon." Megatron grabbed his shoulder cannon before he could have lowered him to the ground.

Soundwave observed the sparkling hanging on the weapon. For a moment, he was taken back in time to when he had last had to put up with this: Rumble and Frenzy had used to climb all over him in the same fashion. The old memory sent a wave of warmth through him and without a second thought he supported Megatron with one hand and activated his cannon. It came online with a low noise, rotating and focusing on the opposite wall. Megatron jerked back then grinned. "Yay! Spins, too!"

As Soundwave watched him, the warmth slowly faded away. This wasn't his sparkling, this was his commander. To see what had become of him… it was a real disaster, a catastrophe. Steps had to be taken, the sooner the better. Soundwave could only hope Laserbeak had gathered enough information before his capture. He checked the link again for the condor, but he was still offline. Worry overcame the telepath's processor – what were they doing to his youngling? Would he even come online? He brushed the feeling away. Laserbeak was still alive, that was what mattered. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what had transpired at the spaceship. Was it even intact?

"_I'll go and take a look."_

Soundwave stared at the golden condor perched atop his shoulder. Buzzsaw shifted under his gaze. "Negative. Our priority is your brother."

"_I know. But we have to know what happened, right?"_

"Chance of success: twenty-one percent. Risk unacceptable."

"_But-"_

"What currently matters is the future and not the past. You will be given another task soon."

The condor's optics dimmed. _"Very well. But if there's anything I can do -"_

"Then I will not hesitate to call you." Soundwave switched to the telepathic link. _"You do not need to prove yourself."_

Buzzsaw didn't reply. He took off, looking for a comfortable beam to perch upon. Soundwave tried to come up with something to make him feel better, but he knew that wouldn't happen until Laserbeak was safe. Buzzsaw had always been the less mature of the twin condors; he was much like Rumble in the sense that he preferred action to reasoning. He lacked the cool professionalism Ravage and Laserbeak shared but at the same time was more level-headed than Rumble and Frenzy. He would make a fine warrior one day, but Soundwave didn't think he was meant to be a spy, mainly because he wasn't interested in it. The telepath had long since come to terms with that matter – after all, he couldn't expect all his creations to follow in his footsteps. Every creator had to learn that sooner or later.

He sat down next to some crates and powered down his cannon, much to Megatron's dismay. The sparkling got off his lap and trotted away to find Rumble and Frenzy. Noting Buzzsaw's message that he would keep an optic on him, Soundwave shut down some of his systems to conserve as much energy as possible. Only his mind remained on full alert, ready to receive any signal from Laserbeak. At the moment, the only option was to wait.

- o -

Starscream stretched out his legs and leaned back on the throne. The Command Center was quiet: most of the Decepticons were socializing in the rec. room. He didn't feel invited – he had never been – and besides, he had work to do. Abruptly, he got up and walked to the computer consoles. Reflector, the only other occupant of the room, eyed him warily before going back to monitor duty. Starscream paid no mind to the small transformer.

He sat down and brought up a map of the planet on one of the screens. Now was the chance to put an end to this little conflict: he could choose the next battle ground. He had to force Soundwave into a disadvantageous situation. He concentrated on North America – there was no reason to take the encounter to a faraway continent. He needed a deserted place without hills or large rock formations that could be used as cover. He paused for a moment, contemplating. In such a place there wouldn't be any cover for his troops either. Oh well, he would just have to use the common Seeker tactic of swooping down and shooting then rising back up. His aerial unit had no need to land.

He found a place. It was a desert, far away from both the Ark and any human cities; they would have enough time to deal with Soundwave before the Autobots arrived. According to the files, it was located in an area that humans called the Great Basin Desert. It was plain and rocky, an ideal site for air force attacks; some large mountains surrounded it, but they were far enough for the Seekers to take down the telepath a hundred times before he could reach them. In short, the place was perfect.

Now for the troops. The task required Seekers, anybody else would just slow them down. The Coneheads were a must-have: they wouldn't recognize Megatron in his current state. His wingmates were more risky, but he needed them as well: the fight inside that spaceship had proved that Soundwave could hold his own against four attackers. The circumstances would be different this time, but Starscream didn't want to risk losing the battle. The six of them had to be enough to swiftly terminate the Communications Officer.

He leaned back, deep in thought. He went through his plan again. It was simple: use Laserbeak as bargaining tool, lure out Soundwave by offering him his cassette in exchange for Megatron. Naturally, the telepath would try something to get both of them, but he was prepared for that. After all, he had no intention of giving the condor back either. The point was that Soundwave would have to take Megatron there and thus make him easy prey.

Starscream closed the map. Having found no weak points in the plan, he moved on to Phase Two – preparing the encounter. He called Hook.

_What do you want?_ Even through the comlink he could hear the irritation in the Constructicon's voice.

"Bring me the prisoner."

_As I already told you, I'll call you when I'm done._

"You've been working for _two joors_, Hook. He can't be _that_ damaged."

_Fine, think what you want. A good job takes time__._

"Good job?!" Starscream exploded. Leaning over the console, he adopted a mockingly agreeable tone and continued, "Oh my, and we wouldn't want to neglect the prisoner's repairs now, would we? In fact, why don't you upgrade his weapons systems while you're at it?"

There was a small pause on the other side – as someone who rarely had the questionable pleasure to deal with the Air Commander, Hook hadn't been prepared for the outburst. He finally found his voice. _I'm not working on the weapons – in case you forgot, you already tore them out. I'm trying to repair the mess you made, and we'll be lucky if I'm done in another joor. Now let me work._

For lack of a better target, Starscream glared at the computer screen. "You had better be done by the time I get down there, or I'll have your calipers melted down into a souvenir paperweight! Starscream out." He got up and stormed out of the Command Center.

- o -

Hook snorted. Of course the idiotic Seeker wouldn't understand. The Constructicon leaned over his workbench and the small Cassetticon sprawled on top of it. He would never admit it loud, but he had trouble with this job. He wasn't familiar with cassette technology, and Soundwave had always repaired his creations on his own. In the end it didn't matter – the result would be perfect as always, he just needed some time. Why wouldn't anyone give him time?

Assembling his tools, he continued to rewire Laserbeak's fuel distribution system. It was ruined: no wonder the condor had gone offline. Removing parts of such a small frame could have devastating effects, especially when done in Starscream's less-than-expert way. That thick-bolted vandal had caused enough damage in one fluid motion to take solar cycles to repair.

As if on cue, the door of the Repair Bay slid open to reveal Starscream. The Seeker scanned the room, ignored Scrapper's greeting and strode straight to Hook. The Constructicon hid his grimace and made no sign of acknowledging his superior's arrival. Starscream tolerated this for a total of two seconds before snarling at him. "How. Long?"

"I don't know. Maybe half a joor." Hook picked up a pair of tweezers and adjusted a wire. "When I'm done with the fuel distribution system, I'll still have to repair his left thruster."

"Let me specify. How long till you can bring him online?"

Hook gave a quiet sigh, swiftly growing tired of the Seeker. "I don't see the difference."

"Really? I'll explain it to you. I'm sure such a _magnificent_ mind will grasp the concept." Starscream stepped closer. "A fully repaired prisoner can escape. A prisoner that isn't, can't. Draw the conclusion yourself."

Hook glared at him. "I know how to treat a prisoner! What do you take me for?"

"Whatever you prove yourself to be! Since when do thrusters count as vital parts?!"

Hook slapped his hand on his forehead. "Look, Starscream. I'm going to say this slowly so that you might understand. The fuel lines in his thruster are broken. If I don't repair them, the energon will leak and we'll be back where we started."

Starscream screeched in frustration. "Fine! I don't care what you do, just do it! I want him online in five breems."

Hook snorted. "This is not a request show. He'll be online as soon as I'm done, and as I said, I won't be done for at least half a joor."

"Then I suggest you hurry," Starscream hissed, "because I'm not going to wait that long."

"And what are you going to do?" Hook asked. "Shooting him again won't help."

"But shooting _you_ might." Starscream powered up his null-rays. "I don't see you _working_, idiot!"

Hook clenched his fists. "How do you dare insult me —" Before he could have finished the sentence, the Seeker shoved the cannons in his face.

"_I_ am the leader!" he hissed. "_You_ will do as I say, or I'll pull out your crankshaft and hang it on the rec. room wall!"

Oh, that was it. There was one thing Hook hated with a passion: when arrogant, discursive afts who couldn't tell a nut from a bolt tried to meddle in his business. A million things came to his mind that he could have cast in the Seeker's face. He almost did, but the cannon convinced him to shut up.

"Understand?"

"Yes." Hook forced his vocalizer shut before he said something that would've gotten him killed.

Starscream pulled back, deactivating the weapon. The next moment he was calm like nothing had happened. "Bring him to my quarters when you're ready. I want to be present when you bring him online." He turned around and marched out of the room.

No sooner had the door closed behind the Seeker than Hook started to tremble with rage. "That glitch!" he erupted. "Did you hear that? Does he even realize who I am?"

Scrapper came over and patted his back. "Relax, Hook. Starscream talks to everyone like that."

"I'm not like everyone! I'm the best engineer Cybertron has to offer. What does _he_ know?"

"Nothing. Don't let his bragging get to you."

"But I can't just ignore it!" Hook slammed his fist into his workbench.

Scrapper grabbed him and forced him to look in his optics. "Listen, Hook. Starscream's nothing more than an arrogant fool. The only things he's good at are insulting people and bossing them around. It doesn't matter what he thinks or says, because he won't be leader for long."

Optics hardening, Hook averted his gaze. He had never been able to deal with insults – he couldn't accept it when people didn't acknowledge his qualities. He realized he went a bit far sometimes, but frag it if he hadn't worked harder than anyone else. It wasn't coincidence that he was the best of the best – millennia of studying and experimenting, countless days spent struggling for perfection, moments of failure he hated to recall were all parts of his past. It was all part of the life he was so proud of. His entire being, his very spark lay in his achievements. And now some useless Seeker comes and acts like he was some ignorant amateur.

Scrapper let go of him and went back to his own project. Hook looked down at Laserbeak. That fuel distribution system was still waiting to be repaired. His optics narrowed as he picked up his tools to resume work. One day, he would show Starscream where to stick it.

- o -

Almost a joor had passed and Starscream was pacing around in his quarters like a caged tiger. Soundwave was undoubtedly planning an attack to rescue Laserbeak, and what was _he_ doing? Waiting for an overrated medic. It was maddening to think about how much precious time he had already lost. The plan was complete, and he had grown tired of going through it over and over again. He wanted to put it in motion at last, but that was impossible without Laserbeak. With a growl of frustration, he sat down at his desk and brought up some files on the computer screen – now it was his responsibility to go through reports – before getting up again. He gazed through the large window covering almost the entire wall of his room but found nothing of importance. The earthen sea seemed devoid of life, its dull blue color undisturbed until it faded into darkness where the light of the ship couldn't penetrate it further.

Turning away, he sat down again. He glared at the screen. How was he supposed to deal with reports when he had much better things to do? He glanced at the list of documents and frowned. There were less than he had expected. Looks like some of the troops had assumed they didn't have to do them anymore. They would be in for a nasty surprise as Starscream had no intention to let the army collapse now that he was finally leading it. A quick search told him what was missing: the Coneheads hadn't sent their reports of the first and second spaceship incident and the Stunticons were late too. Starscream scowled. Were they purposefully making fun of him? This was clearly provocation – he would have to put them in their place before any further disobedience occurred.

He noted that another breem had gone by. He was compelled to go down to the Repair Bay and shoot Hook; he had obviously gone too easy on him last time. It seemed that the medic wouldn't obey him unless he taught him a lesson he wouldn't forget for the rest of his existence. The other Constructicons could use some reminder as well about who the leader was – they were far too loyal to Megatron, almost like Soundwave. Starscream's optics narrowed at the thought of the Communications Officer. He really wanted to take care of that matter once and for all.

His computer signaled that someone was standing at the door. 'High time,' Starscream thought as he pressed a button. The door slid open and Long Haul entered. The Seeker frowned. He had been planning to give Hook a piece of his mind and was disappointed. "What do you want?"

"I brought Laserbeak as you ordered," the Constructicon said, lifting the cage he carried in his hand. Behind the energy bars of the portable prison, the reddish form of the condor was visible.

"Put it down." Starscream watched as Long Haul obeyed, placing the cage on top of his desk. "Did something happen to Hook?"

Long Haul froze. The question wasn't as innocent as it seemed, and he apparently realized that. "No," he answered carefully, "he's just a little busy right now. We thought you wouldn't mind if I came instead of him."

"Of course, why would I?" Starscream leaned back and glared at the Constructicon. "It's not like I give orders for a reason. That would be inconceivable."

Long Haul shifted on his feet. "Should I send him up?"

Starscream waved dismissively. "Oh, don't bother yourself, I understand. It must be difficult to adjust to a sensible leader after Megatron." He examined Laserbeak. The condor looked as good as new, not a big surprise considering that three joors had been wasted on repairing him. Starscream glanced up at Long Haul. "Dismissed."

The Constructicon hurried out of the room. Starscream's audio receptors picked up his mumbling about how he was done with being Hook's errand boy – the Seeker snorted.

As soon as he was left alone, he leaned forward. "Well, well. Looks like Hook finally managed to finish the repairs. Now we just need to bring you online." He deactivated the energy bars and reached inside the cage. Every Cybertronian had a main switch somewhere under the armor plating of their neck, used to cut the power supply of the processors in the head and thus allow medics to put the subject offline in an instant. It didn't take long for Starscream to find it – the wiring had been pulled away to uncover it. How convenient. Seems like Hook wasn't so _busy_ after all. He switched it on.

Optics flaring, Laserbeak came online. He flapped his wings and let out a squawk, trying to get up but losing his balance. Starscream pulled out his hand and reactivated the energy bars before he could have fought down the disorientation. The Seeker smirked as his prisoner shook his head to clear his view. "A bit dizzy, are we? Don't worry, it'll wear off in a breem. Until that time, I suggest you sit down."

Laserbeak's head shot up at his voice. He squawked again, his angry look causing Starscream to snicker. "You can hate me later, for now let's talk. Deal?"

Laserbeak fell silent. Starscream's grin widened. "Okay then." He got up, glancing out at the sea surrounding them – as per usual, nothing of interest there. "First, I want to clear up some things. I'm not going to ask you where Soundwave is hiding." He glanced at Laserbeak and was satisfied to see his surprised look. "I'm sure you wouldn't be easily persuaded to betray your creator. All the torture and interrogation… it would take far too long. I don't have that much time."

Laserbeak tilted his head in a Soundwave-like fashion; for a moment, Starscream was struck by how the cassettes managed to resemble their creator in so many ways despite them having a frame type and paintjob not even remotely similar to his. "So, you're probably wondering what I want from you." The condor didn't react, but his gaze didn't leave him either. Starscream leaned on the back of his chair. "Let me answer that. The only thing I want you to do is send him a message. You can contact him, right?"

After some moments of hesitation, Laserbeak nodded. Starscream brought up some data on the computer screen before turning it to the condor. "Send him these coordinates. Tell him I have an offer. I'm going to take you there in half a joor – if he comes and brings Megatron, we can exchange you for him." Starscream waited for Laserbeak to transmit the message.

The cassette's optics dimmed then brightened again, and he gave a firm nod. "Splendid, that's all. Good night." Starscream raised his null-ray and released a shot through the energy bars. Laserbeak went offline before he could have so much as widened his optics.

Starscream looked at the motionless form, and couldn't hide his grin. After a rocky start, Phase Two was finally in motion. Now all he needed to do is get the Seekers, go to the place he had chosen and finish this interlude.

- o -

Soundwave stood in the middle of the warehouse, buried deep in thought. His mind was racing, contemplating every possible solution to the problem presented and trying to build up the most effective plan. He ignored the distress of his creations in favor of his task.

Laserbeak's message had been short. 'Location: _Nemesis_, Starscream's quarters. Status: online but unarmed. Starscream wants to exchange me for Megatron in a specific location. Transmitting coordinates. He seems pleased, so beware.' After that, the link had fallen silent, indicating that the condor had gone offline again. Frustrating, but at least they had something to go by. It was a relief that they wouldn't have to besiege the _Nemesis_ – that would have had a disturbingly small chance of success, even with Soundwave's extensive knowledge of the ship's security systems.

"So, what're we gonna do?"

Soundwave looked down at Rumble, who climbed up a nearby crate and made himself at home. "Where is Megatron?"

The cassette replied with a dismissive wave. "Frenzy's keepin' an optic on him." He leaned back on the crate. "Ya said we'd wait till 'Beak comes online. What now?"

"Plan not yet complete. Calculation of efficiency in progress."

"But we're gonna go there, right?"

"Yes."

"Awesome." Rumble was fiddling with his gun. "Can't wait to kick Screamer's aft."

"Caution and discipline will be necessary to accomplish the mission."

"Sure, boss. We'll do whatever ya tell us to."

Soundwave went back to planning, but was soon interrupted again as Megatron trotted to him. Frenzy arrived after the sparkling.

"I think he needs energon," he informed Soundwave.

Rumble snorted. "We could use some, too."

Plans put aside for a moment, Soundwave accessed his emergency energon reserve and presented a small cube to Megatron. The sparkling tore it from his hand – patience had never been his strongest point – then sat down on the ground and began to drink it. Soundwave glanced at his two cassettes. "Have some. You will need energy." He sent out a mental call to Ravage and Buzzsaw and was satisfied to see them arrive. "Divide it."

"_That's only enough for one occasion,"_ Ravage said. _"We will need more for the long term."_

"We will worry about that after finishing the current operation."

They consumed the energon in silence – even Rumble and Frenzy saved the fighting for later. Frenzy looked at Soundwave and frowned. "You don't need any?"

"Negative. You need it more."

"_It won't do us any good if you__ are too low on energy to shoot,"_ Ravage remarked.

"I have enough to keep functioning for several joors. Cease worrying and drink."

Soundwave watched over his younglings, glad that he had been able to provide them with the fuel they needed. His own energy levels stood at 73.4% - not the highest to say the least, but enough for the confrontation. After that, he would have to get more energon, but he would cross that spacebridge when he got to it.

Buzzsaw downed his portion in no time. Soundwave could sense faint echoes of guilt from him because he was energizing here while his brother suffered in Starscream's clutches. _"Not drinking it would not help him,"_ the telepath sent through the link.

_"I know,"_ Buzzsaw said, "_but I can't help it. Please tell me we'll get him back soon."_

_"We will achieve that goal, no matter the cost."_

"_Are we going to take Megatron there as Starscream requested?"_ Ravage asked.

"_That seems to be the only option,"_ Soundwave said.

"I bet he only wants to kill him," Frenzy said.

Soundwave switched back to talking as well.

"Agreed. However, we cannot risk Laserbeak's life by refusing."

They all froze when they heard a yelp - turning in the direction it came from, they saw that Rumble had disappeared from his place atop the crate. Frenzy frowned. "You okay, bro?"

Rumble's voice came muffled from inside the huge box. "Yeah. Blasted top broke."

"I told you not to eat so much."

"Energon doesn't make ya fat, idiot!"

"Does too."

"Does not!"

_"Will you just shut up?"_ Buzzsaw snapped. _"Don't you care about Laserbeak at all?"_

For a moment, there was stunned silence. Then, "Hey, that's not true!"

While the twins assured everyone about their priorities in contest with each other, Soundwave went back to his plans once again. And once again, he was interrupted when Rumble fell silent in the middle of a sentence.

Frenzy stared at the crate. "Bro?"

Some seconds passed before Rumble spoke. "Guys, I think I got a plan."

That got everyone's attention. Ravage licked the last drops of energon from his cube and raised his head. _"Specify."_

"A plan to kick Screamer's aft and get 'Beak back safe 'n' sound without offlinin' Megs on the way." Rumble's head rose out of the crate; seconds later it was followed by his hands, holding a silvery object almost as big as him.

Soundwave stared at it. It was a puppet, one of the toys humans made for their younglings. As far as he could tell, it resembled a robot - the obsession this species had developed with them even before the awakening of the Cybertronians was disturbing. It was roughly the same size as Megatron, and painted silver. But what could Rumble possibly want with a... oh.

"Attempts at humor: not appreciated."


	5. AN

**Author's Note**

I know FFnet doesn't like author's notes as chapters, but I feel I have to break that rule now. I owe you all this much.

First of all, I'm sorry for the unforgivably long delay. I'm still alive, but sadly, both Transformers and fanfiction writing in general play a far smaller role in my life now than they used to. I won't make excuses: I've finished high school and am attending university, but this shouldn't keep me from writing.

Even though it may seem otherwise, I haven't given up on this story. I'm determined to finish it; however, as my writing style has changed in the past year, it's difficult to pick it up again. Chapter Five is about halfway done, but I've hit a point where I realized that the way I wanted to write it feels forced. In order to figure out a way past this problem, I'm teaming up with Archaeopteryx Feather to edit and polish the previous chapters. Hopefully, this will bring me back on track and also give future readers as well as those who have been following the story so far (and for whose support I will forever be grateful) a more enjoyable read.

I will do my best to bring the edited chapters to you as soon as possible. Even so, it will take some time to get them done so that I can focus on continuing the story. In the meantime, please bear with me; I'm working as fast as I can, which, I admit, is not fast at all.

Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and alerts. Every single one of them warms my heart and helps me overcome these difficulties.

Hoping to see you all soon,

Levannar


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